Crews practice for gas leak emergencies

By Suzanne Michaels / For the Sun-News

Posted:
06/11/2013 10:42:08 AM MDT

Click photo to enlarge

Man down!" A surprise part of the drill was a Utilities gas worker who "passed out" in the trench and was rescued by the Fire Department. In a true emergency everyone participating is at risk due to the possibility of the gas igniting.

LAS CRUCES - You're outside and you see the sand "bubbling" or you smell gas. What do you do?

We HOPE you would move away quickly and call 911.

That's one of the scenarios Utilities Gas Section and the Las Cruces Fire Department used as a training exercise, also involving the Mesilla Valley Regional Dispatch Authority (MRVDA) and 24-hour Utilities Emergency Dispatch.

Ramiro Pereyra Jr., Gas Services Training/Safety Coordinator, explains what's going on: "The 911 call comes in, and within a few minutes the Fire Department has 2 engine companies and one battalion chief on the scene assessing the situation, securing the perimeter, and making the site as safe as possible. In the meantime, Utilities Dispatch is sending Gas Section Emergency Response staff to the scene."

The first responder from Utilities arrives, steps into a blue fire retardant suit with yellow stripes and yellow helmet, protected head-to-toe as much as possible in case the leaking gas ignites.

He carries a yellow flag to be stabbed into the ground, showing wind direction, and carries a combustible gas indicator (or "sniffer") to walk the scene and identify the "hot zone" surrounding the gas leak.

Emergency locators arrive to spray yellow paint along any other underground gas lines in the area, to be sure the backhoe that's brought in to uncover the leaking pipe, does not hit another gas line. The backhoe comes in on the upwind side to avoid any chance of sparking a blaze.

On site, you can hear radio communications flying back and forth between the agencies involved.

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Other Utilities Gas Staff arrive and move in to close off the flow of gas but suddenly, "Man down! Man down!" comes across the radio. One of the Utilities workers has been overcome by gas, and is down in the hole. The fire department moves in to pull him out.

Ramiro Pereyra says, "It was one more emergency exercise we added to this year's Operation Gas Leak that only a few supervisors on site knew about ahead of time. This training is critical. When there is an emergency we all have to know what our jobs are. We are working with several agencies to respond quickly, efficiently, and correctly. The only way to get there is by going through this type of training."

Jason Floyd, PIO with the Fire Department says, "Any time there is a change in rules, regs, or terminology in emergency response practices, we have to be sure everyone is familiar with what to do. So we carry out these mock emergency responses. It happens about once a year."

If this was a real emergency with any surrounding buildings, police would have also been on the scene evacuating people and closing off streets.

How did the bubbling "gas" get there? Utilities came out a few days earlier, laid an underground pipe connected to an air compressor off to the side. Pereyra notes, "We don't use actual gas in the training, because it drifts on the air. People in nearby buildings would likely smell it and call 911 reporting a gas leak."
You can reach Las Cruces Utilities at 528-3511 from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday. Las Cruces Utilities provides gas, water, wastewater and solid waste services to about 100,000 Las Cruces residents.